Radiohead’s record-breaking tour put visuals in-the-round with Disguise and Notch

After a seven-year hiatus from touring, Radiohead’s return delighted fans with a visually ambitious arena production built entirely in-the-round. At the heart of the show was a bold creative vision from creative director Sean Evans: more than 20 live cameras feeding band and audience footage to a kinetic sculpture of moving LED screens that could shift, rotate and reconfigure above the band as a glowing centrepiece.

Video solutions provider Universal Pixels, along with Video Screens Director Ellie Clement, were tasked with transforming that vision into a fully live, fully flexible video ecosystem, choosing to power the real-time Notch visuals with Disguise GX 3 servers and map the show with Designer.

The challenge

From the outset, the project was layered with complexity. The stage design featured 12 automated ROE Visual Vanish LED panels arranged in a circular formation. These screens could travel vertically, rotate, and lock together to form a cylindrical canvas above the band. On the reverse of each panel ran ROE LED strips, with additional LED strips embedded into the circular stage deck itself for maximum impact.

“We knew the screens were non-negotiable,” revealed Hamanshu Patel, Technical Project Manager at Universal Pixels. “But how the cameras integrated, how the system was built - that’s where we came in to advise on the best technical solution.”

With live feeds from over 20 cameras, the sheer volume of data moving through the system was immense. And with the setlist changing nightly - sometimes with less than 90 minutes notice - the team needed a system that would work reliably night after night, with full flexibility for creative changes. 

The solution

What came next was the most complex system that Universal Pixels had ever put together. 

Creatively, the team opted to run the entire show in Notch, with every visual generated live in real time and no pre-rendered content. Ellie Clement chose Disguise specifically to support this workflow, knowing that the GX 3 server would be able to handle the extensive 4K camera inputs and Notch integration with ease. “We tested other servers, but the way Disguise works with Notch suited this project best” Ellie explains. Inputs feeding the servers include MIDI triggers, SACN, Art-Net, PSN tracking data and more, making this one of the most signal-dense systems the team has ever built.

The moving screen architecture required dynamic content adaptation. When panels came together, tracking data resized camera frames to create cohesive imagery across surfaces. When separated, the system expanded the image to fill the increased space. “The most complicated part is using tracking data to resize the camera frame depending on where the screens are in space” explains Ellie. 

The real-time resizing of the camera layers was achieved using expressions in Designer - an equation utilising the incoming tracking data to adjust the size parameters while keeping the layers correct aspect ratios.

Ellie used a number of different workflows in Designer to solve specific technical challenges in the show. Using The DMX Screen Read feature, for instance, allowed the ROE strip elements to function as both video and lighting fixtures, with Ellie retaining a timeline content layer for video-based looks. “It’s a constant balance. Notch is very reliant on lighting and environment. The camera feed, lighting levels - everything had to be just right.”

To accommodate the band’s ever-changing setlists, Ellie programmed 70 tracks into the lighting desk, each ready to trigger corresponding video states. Using the Sockpuppet integration, any track could be recalled instantly without dependency on timecode. Even last-minute mapping changes could be executed live if needed. Using various Designer workflows in this way enabled Ellie and the team to solve technical challenges faster, freeing up time to spend on the creative output.

The result

Radiohead’s sold-out 2025 tour was a resounding success, with fans thrilled to see the band perform career-spanning setlists in the round. Breaking attendance records at The O2 in London, the full tour saw Radiohead perform 20 intimate performances in five cities. Thanks to the innovative stage set up and ambitious visuals, their fans were able to feel closer to their musical heroes than ever before.